Revisiting Farmer Neil’s hard-hollerin’ country collective, as the Archives rummage reaches that difficult decade, the 1980s...

Harsh words, softly spoken: the gospel according to Paul...

Given we’re coming up to the end of June, I figured it should be time for this annual bit of anal-retentive album-crunching. A lot of fine records here , though not necessarily the 30 I might have envisaged at the start of 2011; as I’ve alluded to before, I feel like there have been a lot of eagerly-anticipated letdowns this year.

Yes, The Dude will be answering your questions very soon...

How many Wooden Shjips do you actually need? As someone who receives their records for free, I may not be in the best position to make that call. But as I was playing “West”, their third album, again this morning, at least a couple of songs began in a way which made me think of “We Ask You To Ride”, and I wondered: is it a blessing or a curse for all of your songs to be so instantly identifiable that they start blending into one another?

Guitarist says Stone Roses reunion rumours are 'a symptom of the times'

Lokerse Feesten will go vegetarian for one day only

Album isn't officially out until next Monday (June 20)

When an artist spends eight years working on – or at least working towards – a new record, it is easy to expect a certain extravagance: complex arrangements, perhaps; an unusual number of songs; possibly even a challenging new direction.

Country legend's 'Ghost On The Canvas' is released in August